Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. A Sinverguenza Holiday Guide: Gifts, Resolutions and Lessons
By El Guapo | NewsTaco | Dec. 22
“Be forewarned — buy chones that are too big and you think she’s fat. Buy them too small and you’re saying that’s the size she should be. It’s like Russian roulette without the empty chamber.”
2. WWII battleship USS Iowa nearing final voyage
Associated Press | Dec. 22
“The last surviving World War II battleship without a home is docked at the Port of Richmond, where it is being prepared for its journey to the Port of Los Angeles for a new mission as a museum and memorial to Navy might.”
3. Turkey’s Biodiversity, at Risk Yet Largely Ignored
By Jim Robbins | Green :: The New York Times | Dec. 22
“A new paper by biologists in Turkey and the United States warns that while Turkey’s rich biodiversity is unique and globally important, it remains poorly researched and faces growing threats, especially from development.”
4. The Most Amazing View of a Comet Ever
By Brent Rose | Gizmodo | Dec. 22
“When you see someone who’s constantly seeing wondrous things filled with awe, there’s something very special about it.”
5. Why Don’t They Sell Eggnog Year-Round?
By Matthew S. Schwartz | Explainer :: Slate | Dec. 22
“People only buy it when it’s cold outside.”
6. Thinner brains may be more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease
By Karen Kaplan | Booster Shots :: The Los Angeles Times | Dec. 21
“A new study from the journal Neurology reports that an ‘AD signature’ can predict which people with normal brain function are most likely to suffer cognitive decline in the relatively near future.”
7. Christmas, Inc: American trees take over Mexico
By Ioan Grillo | GlobalPost | Dec. 20
“This holiday season alone, more than a million trees have been imported over the Rio Grande to decorate homes celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Mexico’s Environment Department reported.”
8. Review: Take the time to curate Facebook Timeline
By Anick Jesdanun | Associated Press | Dec. 21
“Once you’re ready for Timeline, you have a week to airbrush your life before it replaces your current profile. That’s not a lot of time when you have (cough, cough) years of your life to go through.”
9. Occupy protests trigger envy, ire in Generation X
By Jennifer Peltz | Associated Press | Dec. 18
“The generation that gave the term ‘slacker’ new meaning is looking with measures of rivalry, regret and tart bewilderment at a movement its successor mobilized in the name of ‘the 99 percent.’ ”
10. Air strikes on Libya 1896
Witness :: BBC News | March 14
“They lasted for less than 12 minutes, but US air strikes against targets in Libya in April 1986, shook the country.”
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TUNES
My soundtrack for today included:
1. FUMBLING TOWARDS ECSTASY Sarah McLachlan
2. VICTIM OF LOVE The Eagles
3. JET AIRLINER Steve Miller Band
4. THE WIND CRIES MARY Jimi Hendrix
5. SMALL TOWN Morcheeba
6. I AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS Rod Stewart
7. TRINITY DUB Massive Attack & Mad Professor
8. MY CULTURE Maxi Jazz & Robbie Williams
9. FALLEN FROM GRACE Mark Lee Scott
10. DESPERADO The Eagles
Tell your friends!
stillness of heart 